Ireland

things I will miss:

-the accents
-people talk slower, include more details, and expect you to listen-- not so much catering to short attention spans and busy schedules
-life is less fast- paced, in general
-the phraseology, particularly "how's the craic?"
-common courtesy is the norm
-Irish time
-most everything being poorly run
-eating big carrots in my apartment
-people are laid back-- stress is not a way of life
-random castles all over the place, particularly in fields of grazing cattle
-crazy weather
-Saturday market
-the man who makes the doughnuts at the Saturday market
-pints of Bulmer's cider
-a huge selection of Cadbury creations
-my favorite cereal from Tesco
-raiding Tesco's "Reduced to Clear" sections
-the air
-Supermac's: 99s, observing the drunken antics that occur there on a nightly basis
-the people
-good nights in my room, laughing/bemoaning the shitty internet with my roommate
-The Quays
-long walks
-picturing my location, and realizing that I'm a tiny dot on an island
-shitty roads
-nights on the town
-random late- night meetings
-quick friendships that are no less genuine for being made in haste
-the horrible walk to campus
-craziness in Gort na Coiribe
-the way the seasons change; it's different than at home-- so much more sudden and sort of unpredictable
-having to turn on the boost and wait an hour before taking a shower
-trying to make the most out of every last euro
-realizing that I've actually gotten to know a lot of people, both Irish and American-- saying hi to people on the sidewalks
-being asked for directions
-fruit & veg stands, and the man who sells the fruit & veg
-watching the city transform along with the weather
-living in a country so small that it only has zip codes in the biggest city
-free time
-panic is not normalized
-Charlie Byrne's book store
-bakeries
-it being normal/acceptable to have a pint in the afternoon
-Irish stereotypes that ring true (read: old men who live in the pub)
-watching rugby games in pubs
-once again: the people
-the Circle of Death
-enduring shitty lectures
-less daily interaction with technology-- especially phones
-walking everywhere
-feeling good
-not having to explain one's self, not having to always be doing something 'productive', "just havin' a laugh"
-lying in the grass by the Spanish Arch
-the view from my window

going over to Blake's house

I was wrong. The ivy- colored castle with swans in front of it, pictured in one of my previous posts, was not Yeats' Keep-- it was Blake's house. it burned down in 1910, but today a couple of us took a walk to what remains.

#1 part of the exterior


#2 part of the interior. those stairs are the original stairs. I touched them. the two dogs joined us part way through our walk, and followed us the whole way to the castle-- then demanded that we play fetch with the big stick visible in front of the brown dog (whose name, according to his collar, is Fahy)
#3 part of what we think were the servants' quarters-- the building sits about 100 feet away from the 'main house' (castle)
#4 original fireplace-- picture it!
#5 on the walk back, I ducked into the woods beside the path-- and this is what I saw. We think the stones poking out in the center are part of an old well. these white flowers covered the ground. the first thought that popped into my head was, "it's like the world is wearing a wedding dress".

walking to Salthill

today a couple of us walked to the neighboring town of Salthill. ostensibly, we embarked on this journey in order to kick the wall beside the ocean (it's meant to bring the kicker 'good luck' or some such positivity)... but when we got there, we were so distracted by how nice the day was that it wasn't until after I got home that I realized we'd forgotten to kick the wall. I'm not that worked up about it.

#1 the water. I waded in it. the water is so much clearer than at any of the beaches I've been to at home-- I could see my feet! even when I was standing in water up to my knees! the water wasn't that cold, either. in fact, it pretty much defined the word "refreshing", to stand there with my feet in the ocean
#2 there were so many people there. a lot of the 'young folks' gathered on whatever this yellow structure is in order to take turns diving off. something that I've grown to appreciate about the Irish people in general is the way they really take advantage of nice weather. I think this has largely to do with the fact that nice weather can't be taken for granted-- the prevailing mentality seems to be that 'you never know when you'll see it again, here, so you take advantage of it when it comes'. and they do-- when it's sunny and warm, the outdoors is suddenly filled to bursting
#3 on the walk back. people flying kites! (that palm tree near the bottom center is the same one that was in the photo with the giant pile of trash)
#4 ok, seriously: how cool is this? this is the bakery that I photographed way back in the beginning of my trip-- the one with the huuuge meringues. only now, instead of meringues, their window display consists of alligators! made out of pastry! I am so freakin' impressed
#5 me with my homies: Oscar and Edmund Wilde

views from the top

I almost didn't take pictures from the top, because I knew that photos wouldn't do it justice. I was right. (but these are still pretty)

#1 I would have guessed 'the Carribean' as opposed to 'Ireland', if you'd put me up at the top and asked me to guess where I was

#2 we were almost even with the clouds

#3 teeny- tiny houses. the cars, according to Chuck, looked like "grains of rice". this made me picture little grains of rice with legs running frantically along the highway, which made me laugh out loud

Croagh Patrick

today I climbed a huge mountain. I am tired.


#1 the biggest peak-- that's the one we climbed.

#3 DO NOT READ THIS ONE YET. THIS IS PICTURE #3. SCROLL DOWN FOR #2, and then scroll back up here (I uploaded in the wrong order). the trek was divided into two segments: first we climbed to top of the shorter peak (see #1), then we climbed to the top of the big one. this is the view of part of the second chunk of the trip. I couldn't find an angle that allowed me to capture how steep and rocky and treacherous and big this was
#4 another attempt to capture the steepness. didn't really work. and the other thing that you can't tell from these photos is that the 'path' is comprised of loose rocks of varying sizes-- definitely a 'two steps forward, one-- or six-- steps back' situation
#5 at the top. St. Patrick's cathedral. apparently St. Patrick climbed up here, fasted for 40 days, and then expelled the serpents from Ireland. the stones to build the cathedral were carried up by donkeys. I'm pretty sure that qualifies as animal abuse. I'm also pretty sure that you couldn't have paid me to carry anything other than my water bottle and lunch up there
#2 at the very beginning. the land seemed so serene and gentle. it belied what was to come.

more pictures

#1 have I mentioned this yet? during the famine, the government decided that they couldn't give aid 'for nothing'-- because then people would always expect 'free' aid. so the government decided to make people 'work' for the aid. this work consisted of building random fences and roads that led nowhere and had no purpose other than to fill people's days. the fences and roads ended whenever all of the workers had died. this fence-- leading up a mountain-- is one such fence. I have also come across roads that simply... end
#2 this castle is unique in that it has big, fairly open windows-- most castles in Ireland have the little slit-windows required for adequate protection from arrows. the residents of this castle must have liked to flirt with danger. badass.
#3 atop the cliffs, I found this field. the cows are less than a couple hundred feet from the edge of the cliff, and it's always windy-- I can't believe how serene they are; I'd be pretty pissed off if someone asked me to live up there all the time
#4 on the way back from the cliffs. this is called the "moon or lunar area", because theoretically the rocks look like the surface of the moon. the area is formed by glaciers, and is more than 15,000 old
#5 sheep! more specifically: baby sheep! awwww

Cliffs of Moher!

well, today was awesome. took a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher, and the weather could not have been more perfect. it was absolutely stunning-- both the landscapes during the drive and the cliffs themselves.

also, fun trivia! the Cliffs of Moher are the "Cliffs of Insanity" featured in The Princess Bride. I ask you: how cool is that?

#1 thatched cottages on the drive to the Cliffs. apparently, each thatcher has a trademark finish-- the pattern at the very top of each roof is unique to the person who did the thatching

#2 we stopped at the Dolmen. apparently, there are around 30 bodies under here. in "the olden days", when people died their bodies would be placed on this slab. once the flesh had been picked from their bones by birds and wild animals, the (still living) people would tip the slab and dump the bones into a pit beneath the structure
#3 (some of) the cliffs. they stand about 700 feet above the water. it is so windy up there-- as in, people have literally been blown off into the ocean. we had to shuffle a bit, because if you picked your leg up very far the wind would grab it and try to throw you off balance

#4 (almost positive that these are) THE CLIFFS OF INSANITY!! I am now even more impressed by Fesig's strength
#5 more cliffs. the man on the right is my new friend Niel, who, immediately after I took this picture, pitched a huge clod of dirt over the edge. the wind grabbed it within seconds, and blew it back against the rocks

procrastination +weird weather

so technically I should be studying models of Pain and Bereavement and Other Depressing Shit, but I've pretty much reached my boredom capacity for the evening. instead, I bring you my(pretty much failed) attempt to document the latest in Galway's bizarro-o weather: hail, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. torrents of it. what was cool is that I could hear it start on one side of the roof, and slowly move across the house. it came from the east.

#1 look reaaaallllly closely. closer! there! in the gutter! you can see the hailstones piling up!
#2 view looking out of my bedroom's window, down onto our balcony below. that's not speckled stone-- those white dots are hail bits
#3 since I had my camera out in my room, I decided to take a picture. this is where I live. it's a 'realistic' image, because I didn't' straighten up at all before taking it. please note the book on the bed: "The Starter Wife". yes, it has come to this: shitty novels are what is keeping me going through exams period (but it's okay-- I didn't pay money for it). and actually, it's not all that bad. also, I don't drink nearly as much as the collection of bottles above my desk would suggest. lastly-- yes, I did paint that painting on the wall. thank you for asking.

Godfathahs and Lighthouses

this Friday realized the awesomeness that was "Godfather Night". naturally, it included Italian food, Italian wine, and the movie-- which completely lived up to all of my expectations. "Leave the gun, take the cannolis" was an alternate title for this post

on Saturday, we walked through market and then onward to the lighthouse that sits on the tip of a big concrete walkway jutting out from the promenade. we walked past three signs saying "no pedestrians beyond this point" before a man in a fluorescent vest ran at us waving his arms. so we didn't get to touch the lighthouse, but we got closer than most.

#1 the spread. note the bruschetta in the middle of the table-- homemade by yours truly. you can't see it, but I made a four- leaf clover out of basil leaves as a garnish (though it may have been Italian themed, I saw no reason not to bring a little Irish to the table). and Emily found the Godfather recipe for pasta sauce (the one used by the dude in the movie), which is officially delicious

#2 end credits. I get chills just remembering it
#3 downtown, almost at the market. the streets are getting so much more crowded these days
#4 walking toward the lighthouse. you can see the lighthouse a little to the right of center; its top is a bit below the mountain's. also, note how frickin' cool the clouds are
#5 after being chased away from the lighthouse, we decided to walk back via the promenade beside the bay. this picture has two points of focus:
1. the palm tree on the right. there are tropical plants randomly growing throughout the city (and Ireland, in general), and I am still freaked out by their presence, four months later. but since the climate is so temperate, and rarely reaches freezing on a consistent basis, theoretically they can survive here.
2. the MASSIVE pile of trash dominating the backdrop of the image. I want an explanation.

Tuesdays with Laura

on Tuesday, I decided to take a walk along the river. I've been on this path before, but have never followed it to its end. so that was my plan: to walk to the end of the path that runs alongside the river.

#1 I'm pretty sure that this was Yeats' Norman Keep. it's pretty and covered in ivy. note the swans in the river-- these guys are always around.

#2 it was so warm! I took a picture of the fact that I was wearing short sleeves. (please note the muscle in that bicep. that's right-- and I wasn't even flexing)
#3 I realize that this picture is sideways. but I don't feel like going back in and changing it right now. so just imagine it flipped rightside up. at any rate, this is what I came to at the end of the path: a fence. it was that or curving to the left so as to swing back the way I'd come. so I climbed the fence.
I found myself in someone's fields. being careful not to tread on the daffodils growing there, I walked the length of the field, then walked back.
#4 when I got back to the fence, I noticed this awesome root system. totally worth the fear of being shot by an angry farmer (though I think that's a fairly 'American' concern-- in general, people don't shoot each other quite so impulsively here.)

time in Galway

so. life right now consists of writing papers, applying for jobs in Boston, getting excited for this summer/going home, and trying to savor my last month here. I was going to write a long and rambling post exploring my thoughts on all sorts of topics, but instead I got hungry. so I'm going to leave it at these pictures for now, with the plan of coming back to ramble at a later date

#1 I've started taking lots of walks, which is made possible by... Kellogg's All- Bran Flakes! no, actually-- corporate sponsorship has not yet seized control of the weather; mother nature is still to thank for the fact that it doesn't rain quite as constantly any more. also, it stays light out until about 9:30pm. these sunset shots were taken sometime around 8 (just a week or so ago, it got dark around 8. now it's up to 9:30. apparently the sun stays up until 10:30 in the summer) on one of those aforementioned walks


#2 more sunset, through the gates of someone's house
#3 sunset over the horse pasture
#4 my new friend. I was just trying to take some pictures, but this lady came up and shoved her head over the barbed wire fence. she was quite demanding. we hung out for ten minutes or so (it took her about 3/4 of the to finally accept that I didn't have treats), just chatting and watching the sun. when I walked away, she followed me along the other side of the fence, whinnying. it made me feel loved.
#5 this past Friday, Jeannette and I set out on an adventure: we were in search of another castle, which was apparently home to Yeats for a while and is covered in ivy and very pretty. we never found the castle, but instead: we provided entertainment to these cows-- they were entranced by our presence along the road (don't be fooled by the white one on the left, who appears to be grazing nonchalantly-- s/he was actually staring at us just moments before I took this picture); we climbed a fence and walked around in the greenest woods I have ever seen-- everything just dripping with moss-- until we came across a tent and started having visions of every horror movie ever created, and decided to slip out of there, quietly; we wandered through a random housing development; we climbed through a gate (someone had conveniently ripped out one of the bars before we came) and wandered through someone's fields for a really long time, until we came to a creek and, after some searching, could find no way to get across; we climbed another gate and cut through some neighborhood before finding ourselves back on familiar ground. it was epic, and nice way to spend an afternoon (minus the 5 minutes of torrentially downpouring HAIL at the beginning of our adventure)

Raiding the Castle

today a group of us walked an hour to the grounds of a hospital, on which rests an old castle that is in no way protected or access- restricted. we simply walked right in the front door, poked around, and walked out. then I ate a PB & J on a big rock in the sun. Ireland is a different place when the sun is shining

ALSO- on the way to the castle, I had my SECOND celebrity citing in a week!! (the first one went a little something like this [cross-posted]:

a couple days ago I stopped by a "fruit & veg" stand to buy some... fruits and veg (whaddaya know). there was a dude paying in front of me, so I waited until he had paid and walked away from the register, and then I stepped up to pay for my goods.

and THEN the cashier was like, "do you know the band snow patrol?"

and I was like, "yes!"

and he was like, "that was the lead singer." [and his friend/bandmate was hanging around too, waiting for him to pay]

and I was like, "no way! I didn't look at his face. are they playing around here?"

and he was like, "I don't think they're on tour at all right now, and they wouldn't be playing in Galway. I guess they just needed some fruits and vegetables."

as you do.


SO. today's celebrity sighting was perhaps even cooler: we're walkin' along, on our way to raid the castle...

and I see...

the lead singer of the Frames! who was also in the movie "Once", which I very much enjoyed. and his co- star in that movie, and a singer herself: Markita Ingsomethingorother! just walkin' out of a building, shaking hands with some dude. I saw them, recognized them right away-- and they saw me recognize them, but I don't believe in running up to celebrities and gushing, so I just shot 'em a big smile and kept on walkin'.

what are the odds. I'm like a magnet or something.

#1 the castle
#2 came out way darker than I'd hoped-- was trying to show how cool the ceiling is. I can't quite wrap my mind around how big 'ol stones can be suspended in the air, if you just lay them against each other right
#3 we climbed the spiral staircase up to the top remaining floor. then I took a picture. I love moss growing on old stones-- you can see it faintly, along the top edges of the walls
#4 perhaps the highlight of the trip (at least for me)-- on the way back, we came across Bathroom World! we strained to fathom its truly awe-someness